Root-crop topper



y 13, 5 H. F. HOWELL v 2,834,176

ROOT-CROP TOPPER Filed Nov. 23, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I-Q 57 W INVEJVI'OB:

y 13, 1958 H. F. HOWELL 2,834,176

ROOT-CROP TOPPER Filed Nov. 2:5, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Unite rates atent Q ROOT-CROP TOPPER Horace F. Howell, Coventry, England, assignor to Massey- Harris-Ferguson Inc., Racine, Wis., a corporation of Maryland Application November 23, 1955, Serial No. 548,738

9 Claims. (Cl. 56--121.46)

This invention relates to root-crop toppers of the type having a finder which moves vertically and positions its associated knife in topping relationship with the crop, such as a beet.

With conventional machines of the above type, the knife rises and falls in correspondence with the height of the domed beet tops above the soil. The beet tops carrying the leafy portion are fibrous and contain little sugar and are therefore undesirable to the sugar factories. It is desirable to top beets accurately because, if too little is removed, the farmer is penalized with a price reduction while, on the other hand, if too much is removed from the beet there is a weight loss to the farmer. A satisfactory cutting level is just below the lowest leaf scar on each beet and the level varies with the size of the beet; the larger the beet, the farther down is the scar from the top.

In view of the variation in the optimum cutting level in relation to the beet size, it is desirable that there shall be provision for what may be called differential topping; that is to say, as the finder rises over a beet, the knife also rises but at a slower rate in preparation for cutting through the beet and thus severing the top. The ratio of the vertical movement of the finder to the vertical movement of the knife can be predetermined by appropriate proportioning of the finder arm, the knife-supporting means and the connection between them in a beet topper of the type stated.

An object of the invention is to provide a beet topper of the type stated in which the pivotal knife-supporting means incorporates a parallel linkage and in which said linkage has a differential-action connection with the finder so that the knife will rise and fall in unison therewith but at a slower rate and in which during the rise and fall of the finder and knife said linkage maintains the knife parallel at all cutting levels to some datum on the topper.

An object of this invention is to provide a topper in which the finder is capable of vertical movement and an associated knife is also capable of vertical movement, in response to said finder movement, but at a slower rate.

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved root-crop topper which is highly eficient in performing the functions for which it was designed.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and attached sheets of drawings wherein a form of the invention is illustrated.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a beet topper embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a left side elevation view of the topper shown in Figure l, with parts broken away for clarity of the drawings.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the topper shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a graphical representation of the motion of the finder and the knife through a range of root-crop sizes. Figure 5 illustrates a modification and is a sectional ice view of a lost motion device, which may be interposed between the finder and knife. 7

Figure 6 is a plan view of the device shown in Figure 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the support frame of the topper comprises a simple U-channel member 1 bent to U-shape and mounted on the draft links B, B of a tractor by hitch pins 2, a vertical double plate member 3 being secured to the top of the member 1 for pivotally receiving the usualtop link C of the tractor. A forwardly extending weight box 4 is secured to said member 1 by bolt means 4a and adapted for carrying weights (not shown) to increase the adhesion between the ground and a ground-engaging drive wheel 5 driven from the ground, said wheel 5 being provided with angularly arranged spuds 6 for a purpose hereinafter referred to. An axle 7 carrying the Wheel 5 is journalled-in upper and lower bearing blocks 8, 9 to the bottoms of the arms of the U-member 1 (Fig. 3), the upper blocks 8 being welded as at 8a to said arms and the lower blocks 9 attached thereto by bolt means 9a. The ends of the axle 7 located between said pairs of bearing blocks 8, 9 are provided with ball members 10 and locating collars 12 serve to position the axle 7 relative to its bearings. The ball members 10 are self aligningwithin the pairs of bearing blocks 8, 9 thus compensating for any nonparallelism of the legs of the U-member 1, the ball members 10 being clamped tightly by the bearing blocks 8, 9 when they are aligned.

The weight-carrying box 4 of the topper frame is provided with an assembly which serves to centralize the harvester with respect to the beet row. This assembly (Figs. 2 and 3) includes a pair of brace13 supporting the box 4 on the U-member 1 by bolt means 13a, a pair of straps 14 extending downwardly from said box 4 and interconnected by a pair of vertically spaced cross channel clamps 15 within which are adjustably mounted by eyebolts 17 a pair of posts 16 having secured to the bottom thereof forwardly diverging runners 18 disposed just above ground level. In use the beet row is disposed between said runners 18 thus centralizing the topper with respect to the beet row. The topper can swing laterally relative to the tractor due to the fact that the hitch links are universally jointed at their ends to the tractor and to, the

topper in the well known manner as shown in U.'S.. Patent Number 2,735,347 issued February 21, 1956. A

beet finder 18a is swingably supported on the topper frame in trailing relation thereto, as follows.

The finder unit of the topper includes a fore-and-aft tube 19 pivoted at its front end on the axle 7 and having fixed thereto, intermediate its length, a cross tube 20. A sprocket 21 is mounted on a shaft 21a carried within said tube 20 and said shaft 21a also carries four laterallyspaced series of angularly spaced spokes 22 to which are attached, by bolt means 23b and spacers 22b, four axially spaced wheels 23 peripherally spiked with teeth 23a. These wheels 23 are each formed of lapped segments attached to each other and to the spokes 22 by bolt means 23b, thus forming a rotary finder 18a that'is capable of vertical swinging movement about shaft 7 as an axis.

A sprocket 24 is drivingly mounted on the axle 7, and the sprockets 21 and 24 are interconnected by a chain 25 so that the drive from the ground-engaging drive wheel 5 is imparted to the finder 18:! through the axle '7, sprockets 21, 24, chain 25 and shaft 21a. By positively driving the finder, penetration of the leaf or stalk matter on the beet tops is facilitated. Furthermore, the diameter of the sprocket 24 is larger than that of sprocket 21 so that the rotary finder wheel 18a rotates faster than ground speed and due to this and also to the penetration of the teeth 23a into the beet, a rearward pressure is exerted on the beet which holds or presses the beet against the topping knife hereinafterdescribed.

Angularly disposed clearing fingers 26 are attached to plate 27 which is secured by bolt means 27a to an oblique mounting' plate 28 at the free end of the tube 19serve to remove stones from between the finder wheels 23.

The topping knife assembly includes a knife 29 set in a horizontal plane at an angle of approximately 45 obliquity to the line of motion of the topper and secured by bolt means 29:: to a vertical stem 30 fixed to a bracket 3-1 by a stud-and-slot connection at 31a allowing vertical adjustment of the knife. A horizontal slot 31b is also provided in the bracket 31 to allow fore-and-aft adjustment. As shown in Figure 1, the cutting edge 2% of the knife 29 is disposed beneath the finder. The bracket 31 is pivotally mounted to two inclined parallel links 32, 32a by pins 36. Links 32, 32:: are also pivoted to an upper bracket 33 by other pins 36 and bracket 33 is attached to thetop and side of the U-mernber 1 by bolt means'33aand 3322 respectively (Fig. 2). The brackets 31 and 33 and links 32, 32a form a parallel linkage. Link means are provided for pivotally connecting the knife to the finder as follows. An arm 3% integral with the link 32a is pivotally connected by bolt means 34a to the link 35. Link 35 in turn is pivotally connected to tube 19 by a shaft 35a extending therethrough (Fig. 1). Due to the fact that the linkage 31, 32, 32a, 33 is in the form of a parallelogram the knife 29 is always horizontal no matter the level to which it is moved.

Referring to Fig. 4 of the drawings, the knife path K and the path F of the points of contact of the finder unit and beets are produced due to the location of the parallelogram pivots 36, the axle pivot 7 of the finder arm and the pivots 34a and 35a. The corresponding finder unit andknife assembly beetcontact points are denoted by the references F K to F K and the corresponding gaps by the references G to G The ratio as regards the vertical components of the finder unit to the knife assembly is chosen as 1.3:1.

It will be mainfest that said ratio can be varied if desired by re-arranging the geometry of the pivots. For instance; if pivot 35:: were moved forwardly it would decrease the movement of the knife assembly relative to that of the finder unit; and if the pivot 35a were moved rearwardly it would increase the movement of the knife assembly to that of the finder unit.

In operation a tractor pulls the harvester along a row oflbeets to be harvested, said row being disposed centrally of the topper due to the centralizing assembly hereinbefore described. Due to the forward movement of the tractor and topper the wheel 5 is rotated and this rotation is imparted to the finder wheels 23 through the intermediary of the axle 7, sprockets 21, 24, chain 25 and shaft 21a.

When the finder wheels 23 contact a beet they ride'up and over it since the tube 19 supporting the finder wheel shaft 21a'moves upwardly in an are about the axle 7 and as the finder wheels 23 rise so also does the horizontal topping knife 29'by virtue of the linkage system 31 to 35; The topping knife 29 contacts the beet when the finder wheels 23 reach the top thereof, and, on further forward movement of the topper, the topping knife 29 slices ofi the top of the beet, a rearward pressure being exerted on the beets during the slicing operation to hold the beet against the knife dueto' the speed of the finder wheels 23 relativeto ground speed and also to the penetration of the teeth 23a into the beet. engaging means or angularly disposed spuds 6 produce an axial outward force which opposes and balances the side force due to the slicing action on the beets. After a beet has been topped the finder wheels 23 and topping. knife 29, take up their original positions andretain same .until the finder wheels 23 contact a further beet.

Means provided as a positive lower limit to the rangeof up-and-down movement of the finder and knife com- Furthermore, the ground prise a longitudinal slidable link 49, see Figs. 1 and 2, having-lower and upper pivotal connections with a bracket 19a on the finder arm 19 and a U-bracket 41 on the harvester frame member 3, respectively. The upper connection is a sliding one, the link passing slidably through a cross pin 42 in the bracket, and includes an abutment which consists of a collar 43 on the link and which sets a downward limit to the sliding movement of the link. The collar 43 is held on the link by lock nuts 44 screwed on a screw-threaded end portion of the link. Such means is desirable in order that the finder and knife will be supported well above ground level whenever the customary tractor hydraulic power-lift is actuated to raise the draft links 13, B so that they carry the topper in its transport position.

ln order to avoid bouncing of the finder-knife assembly 19, 23, 2d, 32 in the motion of the tractor, a downwardly acting compression spring 45 is applied to the assembly. This spring encloses the link 40, being interposed between a collar 46 coming against the upper-com nection pin 42 and a fitting 4'] on the link. Nuts 44 are adjustable on link 40 to regulate the spring pressure.

It is desirable to make provisions for conditions under which the working relationship between the ground-engaging wheel on the one hand and the finder and knife on the other hand may be changed. For instance, under what might be regarded as normal conditions the beets grow in a field the surface of which is generally flat, so that the soil on which the ground-wheel rides is at about the same level as the soil of the rows of beets.

Conditions may be encountered under which the beets grow along ridges and the ground-engaging wheel rides at a lower level along furrows. Accordingly, means may be provided for changing (e. g. raising) the limit of downward movement of the finder and knife and means are also provided for compensating by changing (e. g. raising) the knife level in relation to its carrying linkage, as follows.

The screw-threaded end portion of the link 40 is long enough to allow for ample adjustment of the lock nuts 44 and therefore of the collar 43. Assuming that conditions are encountered under which the beets grow along ridges and the ground-engaging wheel 5 rides at a lower level along furrows. By adjusting the nuts 44 so as to decrease the effective length of the link 40, the limit of downward movement of the finder and knife is raised relatively to the wheel 5. At the same time, a compensating adjustment must be made as regards the knife level in relation to the finder; and this adjustment is made by temporarily slackening the nut of the stud-and-slot connection 31a and raising the knife 29 appropriately.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings which illustrate a modification of the invention, the arrangement shown therein replaces the link 35 of the construction described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. The arrangement is a lost motion device comprising a cylindrical'member 50 pivotally connected at 51 to the tube 19. This device also includes a rod 52 on which is screwed a nut 53, a compression spring 55 being interposed between the nut 43 and shoulder 56 of the member 50. The rod 52 is bent at right angles to form a pin 57 which is pivoted through the free end of link arm 34. The operation of this device is as follows.

A topper according to the present invention and incorporating the above described lost motion device operates in exactly the same manner as the topper described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, save that, when the finder wheels 23 ride up a beet, the top of the member 50, engaging the shoulder 56, positively raises the topping knife 29, but as the finder wheels 23 pass over the top of the beet (at the beginning of the slicing action) they fall relatively to the topping knife 29, the top of the member 50 leaving the shoulder 56 and compressing the spring 55. This device therefore allows the finder wheels 23 to ride-down the forward surface of the beet and press rearwardly on the beet to hold the beet against the topping knife 29 during the slicing action. The spring loaded lost motion connection also serves to damp out any bouncing movement of the finder wheels 23. In other words, when the finder rises, the connection positively forces the knife to rise at the predetermined rate and when the beet summit is passed the finder is free to drop and the knife continues in its cutting plane through the beet. As previously mentioned the finder is driven so that it rotates at a peripheral speed greater than the tractor speed thereby insuring that the rotating periphery will engage and press rearwardly on the front side of the beet.

The arrangement of the parallel linkage, the finder and the connection between said finder and linkage is preferably such that in the up-and-down movement of the finder there is imparted to the knife a fore-and-aft displacement, the effect of which is that the higher the lift of the finder the later the instant of contact between the knife and the beet. This fore-and-aft differential action takes into account the obliquity of the knife and the circumferential curvature of the beet. That is to say, the larger the beet, the greater its diameter; so that, if the fore-and-aft spacing between knife and the finder were fixed, the knife when cutting a large beet would start its cut before the finder had risen to the summit and there would be over-topping, seeing that the knife would continue in the horizontal plane of cut once started. However, the fore-and-aft differential action described ensures that the start of each cut is timed to correspond with the size of the beet.

What is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A root-crop topper comprising, a support frame adapted to be attached to a tractive vehicle for lateral swinging movement relative thereto, a finder arm swingably and trailingly mounted at one end to said frame for vertical movement relative thereto, a rotary finder wheel rotatably mounted on the other end of said arm, a topping knife disposed in a plane that is substantially parallel to the ground over which it traverses and having a cutting edge disposed beneath said finder, said edge being disposed at an angle to the direction of travel, parallel arm means swingably connecting said knife to said frame, link means pivotally connected between said knife and said finder arm whereby upon upward movement of said finder arm said knife will also move upwardly but at a slower rate and will also move rearwardly in respect to said finder wheel.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 further characterized in that said link means includes a lost motion connection whereby said finder wheel may move downwardly within predetermined limits independently of said knife.

3. A root-crop topper as defined in claim 1 including a ground-engaging wheel journaled on the support frame for supporting the same, and an angularly disposed ground-engaging member fixed to the periphery of said ground-engaging wheel effective to impart a lateral thrust to the support frame in a direction opposite to the lateral thrust imparted by the angled cutting edge of the topping knife when cutting so that the topper will not tend to swing from a straight-line path of movement.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 further characterized in that said lost motion connection includes a spring for damping movement of said finder wheel.

5. A root-crop topper comprising, a support frame adapted to be attached to a tractive vehicle for lateral swinging movement relative thereto, a finder arm swingably and trailingly mounted on said frame for vertical movement relative thereto, a finder mounted on said arm, a ground wheel rotatably mounted on said frame and having an operative connection with said finder for drivingly 6 rotating the latter, ground engaging means on the periphcry of said ground wheel and angularly disposed so as to impart a lateral thrust to said topper to one side when the latter is moving forwardly, a topping knife disposed in a plane that is substantially parallel to the ground over which it traverses and having a cutting edge disposed beneath said finder, said cutting edge arranged at an angle to the direction of travel whereby a lateral thrust to the other side is imparted to said topper, parallel arm means swingably connecting said knife to said frame,

link means including a lost motion connection and pivotally connected between said knife and said finder arm whereby upon upward movement of said finder on a rootcrop said knife will also move upwardly but at a slower rate and will also move rearwardly in respect to said finder and said finder may move downwardly independently of said knife.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 further characterized in that said lost motion connection includes a spring for damping movement of said finder.

7. A root-crop topper comprising, in combination, a frame adapted to be coupled to a tractive vehicle, a ground wheel journaled on said frame for supporting the same,'a finder wheel jcurnaled on a support movably mounted on said frame and enabling the wheel to ride freely over contours projecting from the ground, means coupling said wheels so that rotation of the ground wheel upon movement of the topper will drive the finder wheel, a topping knife having a blade substantially parallel to the ground with a cutting edge disposed beneath said finder wheel and facing forwardly of the topper, a rearwardly extending parallelogram linkage pivoted at its forward end to said frame and being independent of said finder wheel support, said knife being fixed to the trailing end of said linkage so as to be movable upwardly and rearwardly upon the swinging of the linkage about its frame pivots while the blade remains substantially parallel to the ground, and a member interconnecting said finder wheel support and said linkage at a point on the linkage spaced from said knife so that upon upward movement of said finder wheel on a root crop the knife will also move upwardly but at a slower rate and will be moved rearwardly to space the knife from the finder wheel.

8. A root crop topper as claimed in claim 7 further characterized in that said member includes a one-way connection linking said finder wheel support and said linkage so that the support and said linkage move upwardly in unison but the support may return downwardly without moving the linkage so that the knife will continue cutting in the same plane.

9. A root-crop topper as defined in claim 8 further characterized in that said one-way connection is springloaded to resist independent movement of said linkage and said support so as to dampen and minimize bouncing of said finder wheel.

. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,651,030 Kowalsky Nov. 29, 1927 1,805,582 Hovermale May 19, 1931 2,261,324 Zuckerman et al Nov. 4, 1941 2,340,919 Allen Feb. 8, 1944 2,641,099 Reynolds et al. June 9, 1953 2,662,361 Botimer Dec. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 74,154 Denmark May 12, 1952 724,110 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1955 

